osed.

"Hundreds of strangers come here to consult my son," she said quietly.
"If you believe that we know who those strangers are, and that we have
the means of inquiring into their private lives before they enter this
room, you believe in something much more incredible than the magnetic
sleep!"

This was too manifestly true to be disputed. The visitor made his
apologies.

"I should like to have _some_ explanation," he added. "The thing is so
very extraordinary. How can I prevail upon Doctor Lagarde to enlighten
me?"

"He can only tell you what he sees," Madame Lagarde answered; "ask
him that, and you will get a direct reply. Say to him: 'Do you see the
lady?'"

The stranger repeated the question. The reply followed at once, in these
words:

"I see two figures standing side by side. One of them is your figure.
The other is the figure of a lady. She only appears dimly. I can
discover nothing but that she is taller than women generally are, and
that she is dressed in pale blue."

The man to whom he was speaking started at those last words. "Her
favorite color!" he thought to himself--forgetting that, while he held
the Doctor's hand, the Doctor could think with _his_ mind.

"Yes," added the sleeper quietly, "her favorite color, as you know. She
fades and fades as I look at her," he went on. "She is gone. I only see
_you_, under a new aspect. You have a pistol in your hand. Opposite to
you, there stands the figure of another man. He, too, has a pistol in
his hand. Are you enemies? Are you meeting to fight a duel? Is the lady
the cause? I try, but I fail to see her."

"Can you describe the man?"

"Not yet. So far, he is only a shadow in the form of a man."

There was another interval. An appearance of disturbance showed itself
on the sleeper's face. Suddenly, he waved his free hand in the direction
of the waiting-room.

"Send for the visitors who are there," he said. "They are all to come
in. Each one of them is to take one of my hands in turn--while you
remain where you are, holding the other hand. Don't let go of me, even
for a moment. My mother will ring."

Madame Lagarde touched a bell on the table. The servant received his
orders from her and retired. After a short absence, he appeared again
in the consulting-room, with one visitor only waiting on the threshold
behind him.

CHAPTER IV.

THE MAN.

"The other three gentlemen have gone away, madam," the servant
explained, addressing Madame Lagard